Displaying ‘National’ Antiquities in the mid-19th century: Scotland, England and Ireland

This lecture will compare the mid-19th century classification and display strategies of the museum of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland with the British Museum and the museum of the Royal Irish Academy. Museum displays ‘perform’ meaning through labels, catalogues and physical arrangements. A comparison of such displays reveals the priorities informing the ways in which ‘national’ antiquities were presented in the mid-19th century and how this was similar, or differed, in Scotland, England and Ireland.

Julie Holder is an Assistant Curator of Modern and Contemporary History at National Museums Scotland (NMS) in the Scottish History and Archaeology department. In 2021, Julie completed an AHRC-funded PhD at NMS in collaboration with the University of Glasgow entitled ‘Collecting the Nation: Scottish History, Patriotism and Antiquarianism after Scott (1832-91)’. Julie’s research critically examined the relationships between collecting, displaying and writing about the Scottish past within the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland and located this within the broader British and European context.